Arthur Wardle, R.I., R.B.C.

London, Royal Academy, 1920, no. 171.

Moon Kissed – Endymion was painted in 1920 and is one of Wardle’s last pictures combining mythology with animal subjects which also included depictions of Bacchantes running with leopards, sea-nymphs cavorting with polar bears and Leda with her beloved swan. This painting depicts the beautiful youth Endymion, son of Zeus and the nymph Calyse, sleeping on Mount Latmos as the crescent moon descends. The bright white glow of the moon touches his lips and it will soon take the form of Selene, the Goddess of the Moon with whom Endymion had forty children. He was granted immortality by the goddess whose only request was that she could sleep beside him every night. One of his four hunting-hounds has been awoken by Selene’s approach and it is these canine companions that demonstrate Wardle’s wonderful ability to capture the personalities of animals. A pastel study for the painting on blue paper is known but the present painting has not been seen publicly for over a hundred years.